Return-to-work plan
Expected return date, hours, salary and any agreed change in role can help distinguish temporary leave income from the longer-term position.
Employment & income · Less straightforward does not mean impossible
How does maternity, paternity or parental leave affect a mortgage application?
Temporary leave does not automatically make normal salary irrelevant. The important part is explaining current income, expected return-to-work arrangements, childcare costs and any permanent change in hours or pay.
maternity leavepaternity leaveparental leavereturn to workchildcare
What this means
Plan the post-leave budget
Temporary leave does not automatically make normal salary irrelevant. The important part is explaining current income, expected return-to-work arrangements, childcare costs and any permanent change in hours or pay.
0%Preparation checklistNot an eligibility score
What may matter
Break the problem into the parts a lender may actually assess.
Childcare and new household costs
The income may return, but the household budget may also have changed. Model both sides rather than focusing only on salary.
Evidence
Employer confirmation, payslips before leave and current leave payments can help explain the transition where required.
Prepare before applying
Turn the uncertainty into a checklist.
Mark an item when you have genuinely organised it. Progress is stored on this device and feeds into My Money Plan.
Write down the intended return date and hours
Use the arrangement you genuinely expect rather than an optimistic placeholder.
Keep employer confirmation available where possible
Salary, hours and return arrangements may need evidence depending on the route.
Add expected childcare costs to the budget
Include the post-return household position rather than today's temporary costs only.
Keep a sensible cash buffer
A new child can make emergency reserves more important, not less.
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Suggested next action
Write down the intended return date and hoursUse the arrangement you genuinely expect rather than an optimistic placeholder.
Worth watching
Avoid creating a second problem while solving the first.
- Do not omit expected childcare costs from the affordability picture.
- A planned return to full-time work and an agreed permanent reduction in hours are different situations.
- If the return arrangement is still undecided, model more than one realistic scenario.
Explore another situation
Mortgage problems are often combinations, not single labels.
If more than one issue applies, review each relevant page and keep the facts consistent across them.